• Phones
• Phone Finder
• News
• Carriers
• Android
• iOS
• Glossary

• Advertising
• About
• Contact
• Privacy
• Terms of Use

As one of AT&T's newest so-called Quick Messaging devices (read: feature phone with a QWERTY), the Pantech Link has a nice assortment of messaging options, but the interface and included apps don't seem to make messaging a primary focus. Sure, there are a few top-level menu options to help jump quickly into messaging, but the apps you'll find are the same as on any AT&T feature phone, with or without the full keyboard. I'd like to see AT&T come up with a more focused, unified interface for the Quick Messaging family, especially if these phones are going to be a priority for them.

AT&T has updated the text messaging app so that messages appear in a threaded, cartoon like format of conversation bubbles. It looks good, though on close inspection it seems unpolished. Words split awkwardly on line breaks ("this is a t / est message."). Pictures from MMS messages don't show up in the conversation, you have to open them separately. It's an improvement over the most basic SMS apps, but it could be much better.

The phone gets an aging Instant Messaging client with support for AOL, MSN and Yahoo. It worked fine, but I use Gtalk more frequently, and that service is missing, as is MySpace IM, both of which I've seen on other messaging phones. The mobile e-mail app costs a monthly fee, which is ridiculous if customers are already paying extra for a data plan.

For social networking fans, the Pantech Link uses AT&T's SocialNet app. SocialNet gives you status updates from MySpace, Twitter and Facebook, and you can post your own status to all of these services as well. You can even read RSS feeds through the SocialNet app. SocialNet lacks advanced functions, like direct messages in Twitter, and mostly sticks to gathering up your news feed from each service, but its a nice alternative to using the mobile browser for the same task. Of course, a real dedicated app from each of these networks would be even better.

Log In  or  Register

Forgot password

By registering, you agree to our Terms of Use.
We value your privacy and will never share your email address. (full privacy policy)